Where's my hoo-haa?

We celebrated our 3rd year anniversary this past Wednesday and took the day off. We went to the aquarium and a lovely little restaurant in Eastport (the Wild Orchid), it was a nice day but man being pregnant slows me down, it's amazing how tired I get so quickly. Everything is a greater challenge than it was before!!!

So getting a little more personal... I can't see the goodies that got me here, but well... guess I don't have to groom her if I can't see her... LOL, ok this was probably too much information but it's part of this whole blooming experience! It's beautiful! My belly is sticking out further than I ever thought it would at any given point in my life and it's so strange to look down and see this moving little bump jiggle around. He's been pretty active and it's super fun and magical to feel him in there. At our 24 week appointment last week I was weighting in at 143 and the baby's heart beat was 140ish... I can't remember, but to say the least everything is moving along smoothly! Yeah!

I did run across something new and cute ... New clothes in the U.S. soon! Super cute! I wish we already had a store here! I love STRIPES! http://www.polarnopyretusa.com/index/page/static/subpage/about_us There is so much clothes out there for kids.. it's silly, and they cost more than my clothes! We have been purchasing a piece here and there at clearance prices to help us off set costs when he does come. Babies R us and carters had some good sales.

Oh I didn't tell you last week we also went to the classic wooden boat festival in St Micheal's and it was wonderful... we spent the afternoon by the water. The boats were so neat and the little town is worth going back. We just should have realized that traffic on the way back (over the Chesapeake Bay bridge) was rough.. but gave us an excuse to stop at the Prime Outlets out that way! Fun fun!

So uber excited about baby... I just can't wait to meet him, now if only we can come up with a name we can go with. So far we are considering Gustave as it's Neil's grandfather's name and we have one in my family down the lines too... hmm.. well I will keep going on that...

More later!

No pain, No gain oh and no abs?

Happy Summer Solstice and welcome to week 24~

This week the belly pains began! Well OK but new pains began. I started having bad round ligament pain and with good reason, this tum tum is starting to really stick out! There is no doubting my "pregnant" look now! I had some sharp pangs on my side early on this week and then a bit later this week they were in the front, just below my belly button. At first I thought, "OH NO!, what's going on?!" then I went to my trusty babycenter moms and realized oh yeah.. "growing pains" and I have a doc's appointment next week anyways, so I can be sure then.

In the mornings I feel wonderful though, I almost don't feel pregnant except for the part about trying to get out of bed and realizing that baby boy here has taken my abs away from me. I don't sleep real well cause every time I turn around I realize.. stay on your left side, move the teddy bear to lower back, re locate the pillow between your legs... get comfy.. yeah it's the new norm I suppose.

So lets talk about no Abdominal muscles: it's strange not to have something you always had, like being able to breath after a flight of stairs, getting up out of a chair or bed without wondering how to do it effectively without the appropriate muscles. I am starting to do the roll out of bed, but we have a very tall bed which adds to the challenge. It's fun, I laugh most of the time as I am trying so hard to get up and down... Neil sometimes gives me a pull or push... LOL... It also has made it "different" when I have to go #2. You don't realize how much you rely on them until they are unavailable to you. This little tike makes it tough to get in and out of cars.. I am slower at everything! It's funny, I want to move but well, have to be more cautious. <> I will keep doing my prenatal yoga and Wii Fit stuff... hopefully that will help me stay on the ball!

Baby Bootcamp. The fleet and family service center here on base gave a half day class in which they brief us on some of the ins and outs of having a babe. So we went over financial stuff, local and on base day care (much cheaper on base) and got some advice from the pediatrician about development. I believe we also talked about medical and where we can take our babe for his doctors visits. That was fun, but with that said we get a little baby "sea bag" too for attending - came with 6 onsies, blankies and a home made knit sweater and hat.. too cute! It's wild how much they do for us. I also had gotten a freebie earlier this week from work (two books, a onsie and a chill bag for milk). Fun stuff! !

OK back to making some yummy summer solstice meal items!

Went to the Sea Services Leadership Symposium as well (Navy/Coast Guard/Marines thing) and got my annual dose of female leadership. There were some 600+ women in uniform there (about 6 men) and it was just so neat. One of the speakers made a good point, she said, this is how the men must feel every day surrounded by the same sex. Funny huh? Yeah well I thought it was interesting. Of the 300 CMC's in the navy only 57 of them are females. In the ranks E7-E9 females only make up 7%, in the Navy as a whole women make up 15.9%. It was an interesting couple days, long days too! Got out past 5 each day! Well it wouldn't have been so bad if the event wasn't down in D.C. I think next time I will just stay at a hotel instead of commuting.

Well anyways, so besides all the good stuff, been having more tiredness, no change on irritability (much of that is based on how much attention Neil gives me, wink), and I have been getting a few cramp here and there in my legs. . the restless leg syndrome seems to have tapered off but now I get random charlie horses, so I increased the water intake... see if that works. Well enough for me, I need to really work on these during the week, I could have sworn the week was funnier than I am reading here.. but well... baby brain, I can't remember where I park my car when I got out let alone what happened to me all week!

It's almost the weekend!! (and almost Week 23)

It's almost the weekend and I am going to get my blog in a bit early as Alisha will be here! Yeah!! How exciting! I get to see my bff after a couple years of her being in Japan! I can't believe how time has flown. It's surreal really. I mean I am sitting here in the couch of our second home and watching the granite counter tops being installed and it's amazing how far Neil and I have gone as a couple and how we have been growing up over the years we have known one another. I feel like it was yesterday I was cruising the Eastern Pacific on ships and pulling in to port o calls finding what trouble I could get into for the day.

<> I enjoy looking back but I don't miss those days. With my anxiety concerns from the last year and change, I have been coping with all sorts of emotions and looking at my own life to see where it's going. Some days I was feeling it was just going to end and it was all for not, for nothing, just another life, no different than that of an ant or pigeon. But lately as I have been cruising through my second trimester of pregnancy I am reveling in the good and the bad and what a wonderful future we have together as a family ahead. I was strangely focusing on the end.. and how fast it will come and what impact have I made, but I think when it comes down to it, having given the ultimate back, a new life, will fill this void and really give a feeling of fulfilment as a creature of this earth and universe. I feel the little kicks inside my vessel and wonder how well I will be able to prepare him the best for the future, planning on how to set him up the best we can as parents. I am sure we will do a wonderful job, what trials we have ahead, and how I just can't wait to meet the little man. What a blessing this is. I don't know why I never knew what a marvel this was going to be and how I would feel about it. I had so badly wanted to adopt, I just wanted to ensure someone else had a home and a chance, and I may still hope to adopt another child but being pregnant is the epitome of being woman and alive. It's just wild.

My tummy continues to stretch out and I feel the "growing pains" as the days pass. Most days I am feeling pretty good and easy going, second trimester is awesome! But it has it's moments and I must say that emotionally this is the most stable I have been in a while, and it feels great to be back in "control" somewhat of the crying and the emotional aspect. The world around me is amazing and I am reveling in it. Even my job is becoming more rewarding and the fact that promotions have passed and I was overlooked was not as painful as I thought it would be. Next year is another try. What can we say... hopefully I will be able to repair my record, but if not I have chosen to accept this path that has been chosen for me and I need to take the challenge period.

Our house is slowly coming together too! Our kitchen is functional, we have a living room, we have TV (it's all digital now isn't it??), we have a bed room and next week we will have the beginnings of the third room upstairs and hopefully the upstairs guest bath. It's all so exciting!!! The baby shower is just over a month away too and I cannot wait to see our family and friends!!!

OK, well this week has been fun and thanks for listening to my ramblings, things are good and the animals around our house have been active (saw the fox in the daytime yesterday - so neat, saw ducks this morning and one of the ospreys was flying around too!). Enjoy the pics, I did them in the mirror so they are not fabulous or anything but you get the idea! It's Week 23 pics and he's growing fast in there!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!!

Week 22: Magical 22! Conversations about aliens, sleeping and pooping.

The miracle of pregnancy has yet to bore me, it's so completely amazing! To be able to feel life from within me is so incomprehensible yet so natural all at the same time. I am sure the surging hormones help me feel this way to ensure a bond is formed but nonetheless I feel wonderful aside from all the pregnancy quirks. I just want to meet this little man already!

Quirks.. yes I will call them such... one of the more uncomfortable things is having to sleep on your left side with a pillow between your legs. After a while... well my left cheek goes numb and I have to move.. so I roll over, but it's not that simple, I have to move the pillows, I have to take my teddy bear (yeah yeah.. the bear helps support other body parts), and all while not trying to disturb the sleeping beast next to me, oh and sometimes I have to kick a cat or two out of the way when they lay by my feet. So to say the least sleep has become a trying task, and our sugar bears also contribute to some night time wake up calls, oh and then there is the midnight nature calls too... I can't say I am missing out on much though. I don't feel that I am missing more than I should. I am still functional during the day and I take the opportunity of sleep deprivation as an chance to practice for the real thing and as an excuse to nap mid day! Haha.. love those naps.. I get them a couple times a week. I try not to feel bad about doing so but hey... a pregnant gal's got to do what a pregnant gal's gots to do! Need to take care of the babe.

So it seems to me the little kicks are less frequent the last few days, but I have also been suffering some funky bowel irritation. It's been about 5 days, and I heard constipation is normal, but to swing this far in the other direction I am starting to consider a blockage might be causing problems. I suppose if it goes on another day or two I need to call the doc and go in to see her. I know that's a bit TMI but normally I get a bit constipated here and there, but not the reverse... it's strange, I thought it was cause the little man was kicking my bowels.. but I don't think that's the case. Ok enough about my colon.

The body gets so strange. My belly has reached a very boulbus state. It's finally resemblant of a true pregnant belly and not just fat around my waist. It's kinda fun and I am so happy little man is growing in the right direction. But everytime I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror I surprise myself! I am like "whoa, who put that there?", and I turn to neil, I grimace, and remind him how strange it is to be with a babe. Poor guy, must be getting old hearing the same thing over and over. (Yes Neil, I do feel for you! You have the toughest job of putting up with me)

Watching the scale go up is such a happy but sad time. . . in the era of Cosmopolitan magazine and anorexic runway models it's tough to watch that waistline disappear. Wearing cute outfits is my only combat to this, that and the reminder of the new life, I CREATE LIFE! How wild is that? Have you seen the movie Spaceballs when Barf and Lonestar are at the truck stop diner and an alien comes out of the guy's belly and starts singining, Hello my baby, hello my darling... ??? That's what it makes me think of! Haha! ! ! OK enough with my silliness... Back to I create life! And apparently I will create food too... we will see how that all goes... I wonder what the milk tastes like? Anyone out there taste it?

So yes, I have gained about 12 pounds so far.. Doc seems ok with that, so I guess i am doing good. I am still working out though.. in the gym at least three times a week, doing the Wii Fit at home... that's fun... and now the Prenatal Yoga on Saturday Mornings is neat too! I want to do some swimming here too now that the summer is just about upon us... I will have to see about finding a class, or just a pool to go to locally. hmm... could be fun. Now how do I motivate Neil to participate???

Well thats enough for this week... I got to keep it interesting so have to same some antics for next week! Thanks for reading!